Review & Giveaway: Physics: An Illustrated History of the Foundations of Science

Physics: An Illustrated History of the Foundations of Science doesn't have an attention-grabbing name (publishers should start hiring the people who write headlines at Upworthy or Gawker to name their books), but attention-grabbing is exactly what this book is.

Part of the series "Ponderables: 100 Breakthroughs That Changed History Who Did What When" by science author Tom Jackson, breaks down the key developments in the history of physics (and, in turn, our understanding of the universe). Physics is overflowing with helpful illustrations and is written in digestible chapter not much longer than a typical blog post, which should help hold the attention of students and adults alike.

This is exactly the kind of engaging book I loved to have in my classroom library--something a student could pick up and be quickly drawn in to, with the chance of sparking a bigger interest in the subject. It would also be a great coffee table book to have at home for young kids who are beginning to learn about the world around them

I'm giving away a copy of Physics: An Illustrated History of the Foundations of Science to one lucky reader. To enter, email teachforever@gmail.com with the subject "Physics giveaway" by 11:59pm CST on Wednesday, January 22. I'll pick a winner at random. Thanks to Shelter Harbor Press for providing the review copy.

Can't wait to flip through it? Get it on Amazon today.

Giveaway: Catch The Wind, Harness The Sun: 22 Super-Charged Science Projects For Kids

There is still plenty of summer left, and I want to give parents (as well as elementary and science teachers) an opportunity to win a book that will help kids take full advantage of it. Catch the Wind, Harness the Sun: 22 Super-Charged Projects for Kids, by Michael J Caduto, is full of fun, engaging science projects that will get kids off their duffs and out of the house (at least temporarily).

Besides the 22 projects, which utilize everything from swamp gas to solar power, there's also a list of resources for you and/or your kids to follow up so that the learning can continue.

This is the kind of book that should be in every home, and in every late elementary and middle school classroom library. Here's your chance to get a copy: email teachforever@gmail.com with the subject "Catch The Wind Giveaway" by 11:59pm PST Tuesday.  One random entrant will win. Good luck!

Catch the Wind, Harness the Sun: 22 Super-Charged Projects for Kids [Amazon.com]

Book Giveaway: The Manga Guide to Linear Algebra

I think I've found a linear algebra book that could teach just about anyone: The Manga Guide to Linear Algebra. The good folks at No Starch Press have created a series of guides that combine elements of manga (Japanese-style comics) with a well-explained exploration of complex subjects (calculus, physics, etc).

In this entry in the series, scrawny math whiz Reiji convinces the captain of the university karate club to let him join, with one condition: he must tutor Misa, the captain's little sister, in linear algebra.  Luckily, she also happens to be the girl of Reiji's dreams (although he is warned to not so much as flirt with her).

This is the setup that leads into Reiji's easy-to-follow lessons on the basics of linear algebra, with Misa asking the kinds of questions any curious student would.  I think you could hand this to any good student in algebra or beyond and they would be able to figure a lot of this stuff out on their own.  You might even kindle a lifelong love of math (I can dream, can't I?).

If I haven't sold you yet, download Chapter 2 (PDF) and see it for yourself.  I'm a big proponent of using graphic novels and comics in the classroom and these Manga Guides take it to another level.  That's why I'm giving away a copy of The Manga Guide to Linear Algebra to one lucky reader! 

To enter, simply send an email with the subject Manga Guide to teachforever@gmail.com by 11:59pm CST this Friday 6/15.  I'll pick a random winner from those entries.  Good luck!

Thanks to No Starch Press for providing a review copy!

Giveaway: Algebra DeMystified: A Self-Teaching Guide

This week I'm giving away a copy of Algebra DeMYSTiFieD (link goes to a newer edition), a great reference to have in your classroom library for your students or at home for your kids.  It might also be helpful if you're a college student who is struggling but needs to pass your math requirement.

Examples are explained clearly and succinctly, with tons of practice problems to work out. If you're interested, send me an email (teachforever@gmail.com) with the subject "Algebra Demystified" by Wednesday 11:59pm CST.  I'll pick one random winner.  Good luck!

Must-Have Magazines for the Ultimate STEM Classroom Library

If we want our students to be excited about STEM/STEAM subjects and careers, we need to do everything possible to engage them within the context of our classrooms.  Beyond access to technology and integrating STEM into the curriculum, I believe a having a thoughtfully, purposely built classroom library is key.  One totally undervalued category to include in your library is magazines.

With that in mind, I've compiled a list of key titles that touch on various parts of the STEM fields in a way that will truly engage students:

Wired - Wired is the magazine of the digital age, covering STEM topics as comprehensively as any publication out there.  What's more is that they integrate them seamlessly and in a way that ties in pop culture, science fiction and cool gadgets.  It's a mix that will absolutely grab students' attention.  See also: Fast Company, Popular Science

Fast Company - This is a business/entrepreneurship magazine, but is really very close to Wired in terms of STEM content.  For example, they frequently spotlight innovative uses of technology, design and science in business.  Your students will see the cutting edge of STEM careers and industries.  See also: Inc., Entrepreneur

Discover - Discover is arguably the best pure science magazine available, and it presents topics with just the right balance of depth and storytelling.  From the teacher's perspective, it's a great resource for discussion of real world examples of science in the news.  You could build a lot of anticipation for the topics you would normally cover with stories from here.  See also: Wired, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, National Geographic

Dwell - Dwell is about beautiful, functional architecture, design and art.  It's so visually compelling that students will be drawn to it immediately, and when they inevitably start asking questions, that's your cue to start making the connections between what you're doing in class and the real world.  See also: Real Simple, Fast Company

Make: - While the other magazines on this list will provide plenty of inspiration, Make: will have them actually doing things.  Make: is full of projects for beginners and experts alike in robotics, programming, electronics, crafts and all manner of DIY stuff.  See also: Craft: (their online-only sister publication)

Perhaps the best feature of these particular titles is that each of them is supplemented by amazing websites brimming with more articles as well as projects, videos, photos and thriving communities.

If you're wondering how you can afford these titles, this is the time to reach out to friends and family with an Amazon wish list for your classroom or start a DonorsChoose.org project.  There are also emerging resources like Swellr and Local Schools Local Needs that will make this easier.

I would urge you, however, to subscribe to some or all of these yourself, as they will provide you with as much inspiration and real world context as it will for your students.

New Option for Building Your Classroom Library

Swap.com, an online network for trading all kinds of media, has just launched a subsite for their users to donate items to schools instead of swapping it with other members:

As educators face a scarcity of supplies for their classrooms and school libraries as a result of budget cuts, the company’s new Swap4Schools program (http://swap4schools.swap.com) aims to assist them in procuring much needed supplies - for free.

To enlist in the program, school administrators, teachers, and librarians at U.S. public schools, grades K-12, can create a free account and build a list of books and other media items needed for their classroom. Then, any of Swap.com’s 1 million members who own those items will have the opportunity to donate them to a school in need. Swap.com will waive transaction fees for members who choose to make a donation, so the only cost is shipping for those who want to help out!

The program also empowers moms who are eager to help with easy online access to a list of items their child’s school needs. Within the program’s first week of operation, educators have signed up across 40 states and received nearly 2,000 donations!

Here is a link to the full release on BusinessWire with some further details on the program: http://bit.ly/hnIVlD

I'm still partial to PaperBackSwap, but this goes a step further because you don't have to give something in return.  Any resource that allows you to build your classroom library on the cheap is okay in my book.

Have you tried this service, or are willing to test it out?  Share your experience in the comments.

A Dangerous Book for Your Classroom Library

I finally checked out a book from the library I've been looking forward to for a long time: The Dangerous Book for Boys by Conn and Hal Iggulden.

I was excited about it because the book promised to teach some of the lost art of being a kid. There's been a weird confluence of overly protective parenting, NCLB-era schooling, new technology, and increasing urbanization that makes a lot of things I learned and experienced as a boy less common and possible as time goes on.

I was lucky enough to grow up in a rural area, in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. My friends and I would disappear into the woods that surrounded our homes for hours on end and play a lot of outdoor games. I liked to learn about all of the traditional "boy stuff," like dinosaurs, ancient history, the moon, the stars, nature and animals. I'm pretty sure we tried our share of dangerous stunts (although I'm having a hard time remembering any in particular).

When I heard about the book, I knew that if it did what it claimed to do, it would be an excellent addition to any classroom (or home) library. It absolutely fulfills its promise, although I can tell you that the only thing really dangerous in this book are crazy ideas like:

• Learning about literature, science, math and history can be fun.
• You can actually build and make stuff for yourself instead of buying it.
• There's more to life than technology.
• Paper airplanes will always be cool.

You don't have to worry about anything being blown up--this isn't the Anarchist's Cookbook. Instead, it's a sincere attempt to preserve some of the simple joys of being a kid that are being lost to the march of progress.

I have little doubt that if a student picked this up and began to thumb through it, they would find something (or many things) of interesting and be hooked. The book is filled with beautiful hand-drawn illustrations, artwork and photographs to bring each short chapter to life. There's a fairly even split between chapters that share wisdom on essential topics (famous battles, grammar, U.S. geography, girls) and those that show them how to do stuff (make a go-cart, coin tricks, how to play chess, build an electromagnet). In short, there's more than enough here to keep just about any boy engaged, not to mention the nostalgic adult.

The best thing about it is that it's a book of analog ideas in a digital world. The novelty of that idea alone should be enough to want to add it to your classroom library.

If thinking about this book has you reminiscing about your youth, you might want to read 100 Things Your Kids May Never Know About from Wired's GeekDad blog.

25 Free Summer Reading and Writing Resources for Teachers

If you're looking for materials for summer school courses or if you just want to get a head start on next year's lessons, the Internet is a great place to begin. Sites like the Online Books Page can provide you with reading materials and help you choose reading lists. Other, such as SparkNotes and Pink Monkey, can help you develop a greater understanding of the books you are about to teach. Whatever you are looking for, you are sure to find at least one useful site in this list of reading and writing resources for teachers.

Free Books

The Online Books Page - This site is one of the best places to find free unabridged books online. There are currently more than 35,000 listings, with new books being added regularly.

Project Gutenberg - Project Gutenberg was the first site to offer free e-books and is still one of the best spots to get free unabridged books online. The site has nearly 30,000 books in its collection and links to thousands of other books that can be read or downloaded for free.

Bibliomania - Thousands of free books can be found at Bibliomania. The site also offers free study guides to the most read books and other helpful resources for teachers.

The Literature Network - In addition to an excellent database of free electronic books, the Literature Network also provides forums and quotations for students and teachers.

Librivox - Unlike the other free book sites on this list, Librivox focuses on audio books. The site's volunteers have recorded thousands of the best-loved books in the public domain.

Literature Summaries and Study Guides

Schmoop - Schmoop is a relatively new site dedicated to making reading, writing, and history fun for both teachers and students. The site offers a wide range of study guides and teacher resources as well as tips on using Schmoop in the classroom.

Litsum - LitSum is one of the best places online to get free study guides and literature summaries. The site offers more guides than anyone else and also provides topics for discussion, character analysis, and other helpful teaching resources.

CyberGuides - CyberGuides are standards-based literature study guides that are delivered as web-based instruction. Each guide has a student and teacher edition. CyberGuides are available for k thru 12 teachers.

Pink Monkey - This site offers a wide range of student friendly book summaries, chapter notes, and study guides that can be viewed for free online or printed for a small fee.

SparkNotes - SparkNotes have always been among the most popular literature study guides. You can find thousands of free SparkNotes guides online. Other resources include a searchable grammar guide and SparkCharts for teachers.

Educational Materials, Lesson Plans, and Classroom Activities

Learn Out Loud - Learn Out Loud is the Internet's largest directory of free learning resources. The site focuses more on audio and video, but lists some free text-based resources as well.

ReadWriteThink - A partnership between the International Reading Association (IRA), the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), and the Verizon Foundation, the ReadWriteThink site is an excellent source of literature lesson plans for grades k thru 12.

LitPlans - This site offers literature lesson plans and other helpful materials. Most of the lesson plans are geared for middle school and high school teachers, but elementary and college-level teachers may also find useful resources on the LitPlans site.

Harcourt - This trade publisher provides teachers with free books, classroom activities, lesson plans, and other materials. Most of Harcourt's free materials are designed for elementary school students.

Scholastic - Scholastic offers a summer reading challenge, lesson plans, story starters, and many other useful materials. The Scholastic site also features a "Back-to-School Planning" section that's perfect for teachers who are working on next year's reading and language arts lessons.

Writing Prompts and Instruction

The Teacher's Corner - The Teacher's Corner has an excellent selection of daily writing prompts for every month of the year. Prompts can be printed or displayed on an LCD projector.

WritingFix - This site offers interactive writing prompts, lesson plans, and resources for the writing classroom. Other special features include a daily prompt generator, columns and advice from teachers, and student samples by grade level.

The Teaching Portal - The Teaching Portal is a Lightning Bug resource specifically designed for teachers of all levels. The site offers writing prompts, advice, and useful programs to help educators teach writing in the classroom.

MIT OCW - The Massachusetts Institute of Technology offers several free online writing courses at the college level that would be of interest to teachers. Most of the courses include lecture notes, reading lists, writing assignments, and other learning materials.

Purdue Online Writing Lab - Purdue University's Online Writing Lab (OWL) offers more than 200 free resources for writers and people who teach writing. The site also provides style guides and special help for ESL teachers.

Magazines, Blogs, and Other Reading Materials

Yes - Teachers can get a free, one-year subscription to Yes! Magazine when they visit the Yes site. This ad-free quarterly magazine publishes articles about education, the economy, communities, art, and other topics.

Teacher Lingo - This online community for teachers is a great place to start your own blog or read blogs written by other teachers.

TeacherVision - This site lists a selection of popular teacher blogs with frequent updates.

Books 4 Teachers - Known as the site "where teachers come to read," Books 4 Teachers is a good place to find book recommendations, lesson plans, and other useful resources.

The Free Library - The Free Library offers unabridged literary works from classic authors. The site also features free articles and scholarly papers--more than five million entries in all.


Guest post from Karen Schweitzer who writes about online colleges for OnlineColleges.net.

Recommended Algebra II/Pre-Calculus Books for Students

I got an email recently from a 10th grade student taking Algebra II and planning on taking Pre-Calculus next year. This student was having problems in class, and wanted recommendations for Algebra II/Pre-Calculus books or materials that contained examples, practice prob.ems and good explanations of difficult problems that this student could work through themselves.

I figured this information would be helpful to other students, as well as teachers who get similar requests from their students. Here's what I wrote:

Have you talked to your teacher about this? If they know, they might be able to help you. I know that if I had a student like you who I knew could do everything but was struggling and told me what you're telling me now, that I'd figure out a way to help them be more successful. Maybe you could take your tests after school or during lunch when you'd be able to talk out your solutions without disturbing the other students. But you have to ask!

I've been thinking about what resources I could recommend over the past few weeks and I have a couple suggestions. First, a caveat: I don't think books are the best way to learn Algebra, and a lot of them are awful, especially most textbooks. I would rather you go online to YouTube or TeacherTube and watch videos of teachers explaining specific types of problems when you need it. There are a few books, though, that I think would help:

1. Algebra Demystified and the other books from the Demystified series.
2. Painless Algebra.
   

At school, ask if you can take a copy of your textbook home. There's always a lot of extra examples and practice that you'll never get to in class. If you just want practice problems to do on your own with answer keys in the back, visit a teacher supply store and pick up a few teacher resource books. These are books full of problems that teachers use to create handouts and assignments, and they always have the answers in the back--but they usually don't include too many examples.

I keep those two books in my classroom library and point them out when students ask for extra help as well. I'd like to let any other students who may be reading this blog that I'm always open to your questions, even if they're specific "help me with my homework" ones. Be sure to try what I recommended above first, of course!

Teachers, what resources would you recommend for students struggling in these upper level mathematics classes? Leave your suggestions in the comments.

Cultivating Independent Problem Solvers at Home and at School

The MAKE Magazine blog recently shared the idea of cultivating "free range" kids, helping them learn to ask questions, solve problems, and be able to do a lot more for themselves (thereby preparing them better for the real world).

Teachers never stop reading about or dealing with "helicopter" parents, but we rarely stop to think about how our classrooms, schools and districts are engaging in "helicopter education". Even in my independent, relatively forward-thinking charter school, we sometimes take the idea of providing "structure" to mean regulating everything down to the smallest detail. We provide great freedom in terms of the humanities and elective courses available, but students are told what, when and how to do almost everything. In doing so, we often fall into some of the same pitfalls as your average public school. We certainly do many things better, but I can't shake the feeling that our "helicopter" ways often backfire on us.

In any case, MAKE Magazine is a great resource, absolutely worth having in your classroom library to encourage creative thinking. It's on the expensive end of magazines, and I haven't found any deals to get a free/cheap subscription, but it's worth putting on your holiday wish list!

Another Low Cost Method to Build a Classroom Library

Since moving to Boston, I've been looking for more ways to save money to help afford the higher cost of living. I sold my car before I left south Texas, which cut out a huge list of expenses. My girlfriend and I had been living apart down there, which means we were able to combine a lot of expenses we were paying for separately when we moved in together this summer. I'd also be a lot closer to my family and many friends, cutting travel costs significantly. In short, I've done everything in my personal life to cut costs and still live happily.

As the new school year came around, I worried about how to continue to build my classroom library without spending nearly as much as I used to. Luckily I learned about one resource that would completely change the way I was approaching the problem: PaperBackSwap.

I heard about PaperBackSwap from The Simple Dollar, a great personal finance blog that helps me keep my self in check. The concept is simple: you make a list of books you don't want. Members request them from you, and you pay only for shipping (USPS Media Mail). You get credits for every book you swap, which you use to request the books that you do want. No money changes hands; you just pay the post office to ship.

The site even includes a template for making your own simple envelope out of two pieces of printer paper. I myself use bubble mailers and attach the PBS-provided printable address label to it, but that's just personal preference.

What this meant for me is that I was able to swap many books that I wouldn't have been able to sell and get many new books for school for less than $3 each (the shipping cost). It freed up space at home, as I turned unwanted personal books into in-demand classroom library books.

I was able to get the first six books of the Harry Potter series, the first three Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants books, and Taking Sides by Gary Soto.

This is a free site, built on the principle that people can save money (and the environment) by trading. It's worked out well for me. PBS has two sister sites: Swap-a-DVD and Swap-a-CD. I've used the former for personal DVDs, but if I ever needed something for school, that would be a big help as well.

If you have used these sites, or other similar networks, please leave a comment or email me. Good luck!

50 Cheap Mini-Lessons for Teachers: #31-40

Thank you to everyone who's been reading and responding to my list thus far. Since I posted mini-lessons #21-30 so late last night, I am rebounding to post the penultimate ten a little earlier today.

31. Share your good ideas with other teachers. I believe that most teachers work hard to have a positive impact on their students, but don't realize how easy it is to extend your impact far beyond the walls of your classroom. You can create a blog or website, but you don't have to if you just have some things you want to submit. You can also just share with your colleagues (#14) on campus. If your great ideas are applied in some other classroom, then those students just learned from you.
    
32. Follow the Star Trek: The Next Generation Rule of Vocabulary. Star Trek stories often rely on "Treknobabble", made-up or pseudo-scientific jargon that explains the universe in which the story takes place. In some cases, it's used as a poor substitute for good storytelling. In the classroom, we use jargon every day. Our jargon is a split between content-area vocabulary and "big words" we inadvertently slip into our explanations. In either case, without context and clarification, it all becomes meaningless jargon to our students. The solution is not to stop using advanced vocabulary, but to make sure you always break it down and explain it as simply and directly as possible. On a typical good ST:TNG, "We'll reverse the polarity of the tachyon emitter," is turned into a simple analogy like, "We'll turn the ship into a giant magnet!" In the classroom, "isolate the y variable" can become "move the y to the left side of the equals and everything else to the other". By using advanced vocabulary and explaining it consistently, you'll build your students' vocabulary and understanding. Plus, it makes for a much better story.
    
33. Find opportunities to work with kids who aren't in any of your classes. Become a coach, club sponsor, tutor or look for opportunities in the community where students like yours live. This will give you a great opportunity to study student culture (#8), but I found it very cathartic to work with my "other students." They always wanted to be there and provided a welcome respite even when my regular classes didn't go well. Most importantly, it gives you the opportunity to extend your positive impact beyond your classroom (see #31 above).
34. Don't be a hypocrite. Be the model, set the example for everything you expect them to do. As I noted in mini-lesson #27, your students will never let you forget the times when you don't do as you say and say as you do.
35. Learn to adjust on the fly. It's good to always plan ahead for the worst case scenario, or merely to have more planned than you think you can accomplish in one class period. However, you will never be prepared for everything. I once had to evacuate my classroom mid-period due to overwhelming paint fumes, so I took my kids to the library and continued an abbreviated version of my lesson (sans overhead, whiteboard, or almost anything else). As long as you keep calm (#3 and #5), you should be able to make the most out of any situation. If you don't know what to do, at least act like you do (#19).
36. Seek at least one good takeaway lesson from every professional development workshop you attend. You won't always be able to choose your own PD (#25), so you need to challenge yourself to find something you can use, no matter how bad a workshop may be. If anything, you can use bad PD as an example of what not to do in your classroom!
37. Don't waste your money on teacher resource books. I am referring specifically to books full of worksheets that claim to be engaging, hands-on, fun, amazing, can't-miss, student-centered, real-life activities. If you need materials for independent practice, you can find it for free online (#18), borrow from colleagues, find them in current / replaced / evaluation copy textbooks your school or district has on hand, or make your own. In my experience, I don't think I've ever come across a worksheet from one of these resources that had everything I needed. I always end up cutting and pasting things from multiple resources while adding in my own, like they used to do for newspaper layouts.
38. Read Teaching With Love and Logic by Jim Fay and David Funk. This is the most important teaching book ever written. It will either change your way of teaching or reaffirm why we do what we do, but you will be moved by this book. I haven't mentioned anything about classroom rules or much about discipline issues in my advice thus far; this book is the reason.
39. Share your amazing experiences with your students. I don't think most teachers appreciate how amazing most of their experiences are, especially for students who might never have left their hometown, had any family members go to college, flown on a plane, or even gone out to dinner at a restaurant that wasn't a fast food joint. Your role as a teacher is not just to teach, but to inspire. Opening up the world to your students, in the form of what you've done and what you've learned, is part and parcel of your job. If you've seen the "Freedom Writers" movie, there's a moment when Ms. Gruwell realizes her students haven't even heard of the Holocaust. She had taken for granted that they obviously already knew about it, and so she realized she had something more to teach than just reading.
40. Incorporate literacy into your classroom. Create a print-rich environment, a classroom where reading materials are readily available and clearly visible in your daily lessons. It is not difficult to find relevant books, free magazines, newspapers, and high interest books outside of your content area. Create a classroom library, even if you're a math teacher like me. Create a bulletin board where you post news articles about your content area. Then, once you have the resources on hand, integrate them into your lesson plans. You can build projects for any content area around magazines and newspapers. If you do enough research, you'll probably find a novel you can read as a class no matter the subject. At the very least, allow students to do reports on books and articles for extra credit or as an alternative assessment when appropriate. Don't think of it as doing someone else's job (if you're not a language arts teacher), because your students' ability to read and think critically is necessary in every subject, especially for those standardized tests everyone is so concerned about!

You can read the other 40 lessons here: 1-10, 11-20, 21-30 and 41-50.

50 Cheap Mini-Lessons for Teachers: #21-30

Sorry about the late night post, but I had a long day of [insert poor excuses here] that I just couldn't get away from! I can see by the comments, emails and links I've received in the last two days that this list is resonating with people. I'm very much humbled by this, and so will do my best to continue the list with ten solid mini-lessons for today:

21. Constantly reevaluate your methods. In contrast to mini-lesson #10, where I advised you to ask for feedback from your students, you must also put yourself through constant self-evaluation. There is no perfect method, curriculum or set of lesson plans that you can eventually settle into after x number of years teaching the same thing. If you believe this, you will quickly become irrelevant to your students and your profession. The process is rather simple: ask yourself, no matter how good your lesson is, "How can I make this more engaging, meaningful and effective?"
22. Keep your eyes open for applications of your subject in the real world. If you can't see it, how can you expect them to? This will be easy if you follow mini-lessons #8 and #12. You will find inspiration in unexpected places! Use what you find in every aspect of your classroom.
23. Add some relevant (and irrelevant) reading material to your classroom. You don't have to be a reading or writing teacher to have a classroom library. Besides bolstering your classroom culture, it makes it easier to tie literacy into any classroom. This also helps with the previous mini-lesson and the others referenced there.
24. Get out of the classroom once and a while! Take your students to the library, computer lab (#17), the hallway, the stairwell, outside, and wherever else you can within the confines of your campus. You don't need district paperwork or a huge budget to have an interesting field trip. This is helpful for breaking up your classroom routine (#11) once and a while, and because it forces you to think creatively as well. The best part is that it doesn't necessarily have to be related to your particular lesson.
25. Seek out good professional development yourself. Your district probably doesn't know what it's doing. Devoted readers of this blog will know that unspeakably awful professional development is something I have grown accustomed to over the years. Nonetheless, good PD does exist, if you are willing to do the research (#18) to find it.
26. When you speak to students, speak to them at their level. I mean this literally: eye level. Crouch, sit, kneel, lean over slightly, but don't stand over them! Everything you say and do in the classroom is dissected by your students--every nuance and subtlety of your manner is of great import to them. If you don't understand what I'm talking about, try sitting in one of your student desks and having a colleague stand directly over you, giving you directions. See how long it takes you to start feeling uncomfortable, if not a little angry, annoyed or upset as well.
27. Don't break promises. More directly, don't make promises you can't keep. Students never forget, and they'll never let you forget either.
28. If a student recommends a book, read it. You could extend this to other types of media, but I think it holds more true for books because of the unique relationship one can build with a book. Imagine the relationship-building conversations you could have! Similarly, you should try to pay attention to what books are being most widely read, and at the very least get familiar with them. If you're more ambitious, get copies of those books for your classroom library (see #23 above).
29. Go cheer your students on at their sporting events and extracurricular competitions. You should do this even if they don't ask, but unquestionably if they do. One appearance during the season can make all the difference in your relationship with that student. Be sure to follow up and ask about their events whenever possible, especially when you can't get to them in person. Your interest in their lives (#7) goes a long way.
30. Watch School of Rock. I am completely serious when I tell you that, having watched nearly every teaching-related film or television show available, this is the most important film about teaching ever.

You can read the other 40 lessons here: 1-10, 11-20, 31-40 and 41-50.

Teacher Suspended for Using "Freedom Writers Diary"

In case you missed it, CNN reported Sunday that an Indiana teacher was suspended for a year and a half (!) because she tried to read The Freedom Writers Diary with her English classes. Erin Gruwell herself appealed to the school board, who (you might want to sit down for this shocker!) came across as if they hadn't even read the entire book. This all happened a few months ago, but was just picked up by CNN. Here's the video (about 4 minutes long):

Teacher ousted for banned book (CNN Video)

I taught Algebra last year, but during our advisory/reading period, we read this book. I didn't even take the precautionary step of sending home a permission slip as this teacher had! At first, even my students were taken aback by the direct, uncensored language. There were some snickers and laughs, but I told them quite plainly that this book contained some language that might be considered inappropriate, and that I expected them to act like young adults. If they couldn't handle it, we wouldn't read it. That stopped all of the problems right there, and we were able to read the entire book without incident.

I'm sure the first few pages is all these empty suits read before "banning" the book. Anyone who has actually read the book themselves, especially with a class, knows two key things:

1. The "inappropriate" language tapers off quickly.
2. This is one of the most inspirational and important books they've ever read.

My students, all of whom came from a low-income community and faced the same kinds of challenges (as I've already written about this week, twice), were sincerely moved by the book. Many even asked if we could replicate the Freedom Writers book project, even though we weren't in an English class! All of these students were reluctant readers, but they were full engrossed in this wonderful book. They begged to see the movie version, which we watched after our standardized testing was over.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book to any teacher that wants to truly engage their students.

Connie Heermann, the teacher who was suspended, is a hero in my book. She said she will not return to the classroom unless she's allowed to use the book. I admire her for standing by her principles, and fighting for the benefit of her students.

You can read some interesting local reactions to this situation in this post at the Advance Indiana blog.

5 Tips for Building a Quality (non-ELA) Classroom Library

If your classroom is like mine, you have a lot of reluctant readers, LEP students, at-risk students, and those who just aren't engaged with school in general. Recently I posted some suggestions for taking control of your advisory period and instituting DEAR time. One way to ensure your success is to build a quality classroom library full of books your students will actually want to read.

1. Get them doing instead of just reading. I like to have as many how-to, reference and art books on hand as possible. I realized a long time ago that encouraging my students to get involved in some sort of art or hobby instead of merely getting them to read might keep them out of a lot of trouble. As the saying goes, students learn by doing, so there's a lot of non-fiction on my bookshelves. Here are three books that have been big hits:
2. Think local. Some books in your library should be either be set in or about your region, culturally relevant, or written by a local author. Teachers pay a lot of lip service towards approaching students at their level, but this is that idea in practice. Since we reside in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, I have two of Rene Saldana Jr's books in my classroom:
3. Having all the books in a popular series or by a popular author is never a bad thing. This year's students have been really into both the Twilight series as well as Ellen Hopkins' books (Impulse, Burned, and Crank). I found out about these by noticing what my students were already reading and by researching lots of recommendations and reviews online. Some students have already been asking about the Uglies series and I've noticed lots of similar teen-focused series popping up at the bookstore, so I know this area is only growing. The best part is that if your students get hooked on one, they'll probably read the entire series, which is why you need to get them all as soon as possible.
4. High school and middle school students like to read about high school and middle school students. If there's one trait of adolescents you can exploit fully and without guilty, its their shameless self-interest. We have been reading the The Freedom Writers Diary together during advisory and despite the length, my students have been riveted. Earlier selections we've read together were Don't You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey and Gary Soto's Taking Sides, both of which dealt with students in high school dealing with seemingly insurmountable challenges. When I asked them if they wanted to read something of a different genre, they asked for more of the same, and I happily obliged.
   
5. Use lists of high interest/low reading level (Hi-Lo) books as a starting point. This compilation of 10 Hi-Lo reading lists on about.com should give you a lot of books to start with. After testing some out in your classroom, you can search for recommendations for similar books to whatever is getting over well with your students. Similarly, the ALA's yearly list of best books for reluctant readers can provided leads on dozens of titles that will work for your classroom.

How Can I Afford All This?

Besides soliciting donations from family and friends (either directly or by setting up a wish list on Amazon.com or other sites), Barnes & Noble's bargain section is an easy place to start. Ask your school librarian, department chair, and curriculum director if there are funds available for book purchases there or elsewhere. Set up a project on DonorsChoose if you're looking for a huge number of books. I have also drawn many books from my personal collection that otherwise would have gone unused for a long time.

Books Alone Are Not Enough

As I've discussed here before, my classroom library also has free daily newspapers (sponsored by my local paper) from the Newspapers in Education program and several free subscriptions to magazines. These are as essential to my cause as the books, because even those students who have never picked up a book will read one or the other.

Where Do I Put All These Books?

If you can't get any free shelving at school, you're The cheapest route is to buy some small office supply store bookcases. These usually run around $20, are easy to assemble, and don't take up too much space. For my magazines, I bought 3-tier magazine racks from an office supply store and plastic magazine bins from a dollar store for the older issues. My newspapers are generally kept in a repurposed printer paper box and later reused by students and other teachers for various academic endeavors.

How Can I Get Started?

Read my recent post entitled Take Back Advisory: DEAR Time for All for more ideas.

Take Back Advisory: DEAR Time for All

At first, I hated advisory. I have no problem with DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) time, but at my school, it is largely a joke. Many teachers let their students roam the halls, use their cellphones, put on make up, or otherwise do nothing related to reading for our 30 minute period. Worse yet, our students were not at all encouraged or motivated to read independently, and so they didn't. I struggled all last year to get my kids reading, and in the end wasn't at all successful.

When the new year's advisory period started to go the same way, I decided to take back advisory.

If they didn't want to read independently, we would read together. I would extend the principles I used to build my classroom library to pick out engaging books for my students, and then we would take Accelerated Reader tests on each book together. Ideally, our program would help improve reading comprehension, increase student interest in reading, and provide a structure that students would easily adapt to.

Here are five tips to get you started:

1. Provide extra credit or other small incentives to encourage students to keep reading. For example, after we read Gary Soto's Pacific Crossing, about a Mexican-American teenager who travels to Japan as part of an exchange program, I brought in some Japanese snacks to eat while we read. I brought ramune, a Japanese soda mentioned often in the book as well as some rice crackers purchased from a local market. The students enjoyed drinking it and it helped make the book (and our advisory) more memorable. Alternatively, you could organize a trip to a local bookstore or large public/college library to check out or buy books for your top readers.
2. Pick engaging books. If you have reluctant readers like I do, a good place to start is the ALA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Readers. Read online reviews of popular teen titles, ask your English Language Arts teachers, and most importantly, watch for trends and interests among your students. You will always have a handful of enthusiast readers in your classes--keep an eye out for what they're reading and ask them what they think of particular titles and authors.
3. Don't start with anything difficult. If you're trying to save your advisory period from the abyss, you can't start with Finnegans Wake. That doesn't mean you can't challenge your students--it just means you have to build up to it. You are trying to show your students that reading is something they might actually like to do.
4. Take them to get their own books from the library... especially if they don't read novels in English class!
5. As another incentive (and as a jumping off point for discussion and reflection), you can perhaps watch the movie version of whatever you're reading.

If you read your students well enough, you should start to see the students get into reading every day, and any discipline problems you have will be quelled by the majority. I actually enjoy advisory each day, which is far cry from where it once was.

I just published my first book: Ten Cheap Lessons!!

I have been known to make grand declarations of things I plan on doing, only to do just the opposite a short time later. After months of excuses and stalling, I made a new year's resolution to sit down and write a book. I had the idea for a teacher resource book a long time ago, and I thought it would be the easier of the two planned books I wanted to do (the other being a memoir of my time here in the RGV). It would prove to me (and future publishers) that I was up to the task, and was something I wanted to do anyway. When I wrote out self-imposed deadlines for the month of January, I didn't know if I would follow through. Indeed, I almost gave up in the first week, when the crushing exhaustion of going back to school after winter break was making an already monumental task seemingly impossible.

Yet I persevered, and the product of my months of work is Ten Cheap Lessons: Easy, Engaging Ideas for Every Secondary Classroom. It is available now, for about $12 for the paperback or $6 to download immediately. I have put my heart and soul into this, and I can't tell you what it would mean to me to know that my book could help me have a far-reaching effect on the education of children I've never met.

Regular readers of I Want to Teach Forever will see some ideas originally published here, as well as many I've been saving for Ten Cheap Lessons. I hope that the book and the website grow together, so that I can have the opportunity to meet more great teachers and collaborate on great new ideas with them. If you read the book and would be interested in having me present a workshop or speak at a conference, please email me, as I would love the opportunity. You know I'll do a good job--I couldn't live with myself if I didn't provide quality professional development.

Thank you to everyone who visits this website, and for all of the positive feedback I've gotten over the past six months. Stay tuned to teachforever.com for updates and opportunities to learn more about it. Enjoy:

Ten Cheap Lessons: Easy, Engaging Ideas for Every Secondary Classroom

Free Magazines for your Classroom Library

I have always kept at least a small bookshelf in my classroom. I hope to inspire students to read and discover new things, even though in my various teaching experiences I have never taught an English class. Besides the obvious benefits of encouraging independent reading, all of the content area standardized tests are, by my estimation, one billion times easier if students have excellent reading skills.

I learned from my time teaching at an alternative school that it is possible to inspire even the most reluctant student to read, provided that you offered a wide enough range of topics and formats. So what was in my first years of teaching just a modest collection of books expanded to include more books, sponsored newspapers, and the most criminally underused resource of all: magazines. I started with the titles I already subscribed to, and then laid out a plan to amass as many as possible:

1. Bring in magazines you subscribe to (or buy) as soon as you're done with them. I started by bringing in my favorite magazine, Wired, a very intelligent and accessible title that covers technology and its interaction with everything else. It's been a huge hit with my 9th graders. Like most people, once I'm done reading the magazine, I have no more use for it. This also goes for any single issues you pick up along the way. Even if they don't find the magazine of interest for reading, they can be used for projects (in your class or others).
   
2. Request free trial issues. I used to treat these solicitations as junk mail, but I realized that this is an easy opportunity to get more free reading material for my students. These often come bundled with your current subscriptions. For example, I got two free issues of Dwell, a beautifully illustrated architecture and design magazine, by just sending in a postcard that came with Wired.
   
3. Ask your local public library. Most public libraries sell older magazines for ridiculous prices like ten issues for a $1. When I reached out for donations for my classroom library earlier this year, I was invited to visit one local library and take what I wanted for free. These magazines were old and had already been discounted greatly, but since it was for a school all I had to do was ask. It helps to know people who work at or volunteer for the library, but again don't be shy about asking for donations.
4. Search the classifieds. Especially for those of you in or near big cities, newspapers and Craigslist will often have listings for free magazines. Most people are willing to give things away that they'd otherwise discard as long as you're willing to go pick it up. You might even find a windfall of books if you're lucky.
5. Ask for donations from friends, family and your community. My classroom received subscriptions to Discover and Mental Floss thanks to the generosity of several people. I was genuinely surprised at how much my students love Discover, which inspires me to keep this project going.
6. Grab a stack of free local magazines. In the Rio Grande Valley, local favorite RGV Magazine is pretty much the only game in town--and most of it is filled with ads. However, nothing's better for relating to your students than a local production. Think of the Improper Bostonian.

Take advantage of legitimately FREE magazine subscriptions

This is the greatest coup of all. Shortly after starting my plan, I remembered that DVD enthusiast website DVD Talk had a constantly updated list of free magazine subscriptions (click on the first thread). More recently I found an entire forum devoted to free magazines on SlickDeals.net, an online community that aggressively seeks out the best deals on everything. Through these two lists I got free subscriptions for my classroom to: Hispanic, Batanga Latin Music, Siempre Mujer, Spin, EGM, and Latina. There is enough variety on the two lists to ensure you'll find something that will pique the interest of your students. Did I mention they are updated daily? They also offer leads on cheap subscriptions and can hook you up with somebody who wants to "trade" a subscription they have for one they want, if you're willing to spend a little money.

Things to Avoid

To avoid spam and additional solicitations, you should not use your primary email address to sign up for anything online (this included). In other words, set up an email address to use just for signing up for things. If you want to avoid junk mail in your real mailbox, have the magazines shipped directly to school. This also eliminates the need to remove your home address before bringing it to school.

Obviously you have be careful with which magazines you choose to bring in. Even Wired, which I wouldn't hesitate to recommend, sometimes has questionable content for students. For example, every issue of Men's Health is full of information I wish all of my male students would read, but there's a whole lot of sex in there too. It's not worth the time it would take to rip out the stuff that might get me in trouble just to have one more title. The same goes for a lot of otherwise quality publications.

DVD Talk's list of free magazine subscriptions (click on the Free Magazines thread)
SlickDeals.net's free magazines forum

First Day of School: Mini-Lesson on Calculating a Tip

The first day of school was, as always, a thrilling, frightening, and incredibly confusing marathon day. With over 2,000 students likely to fill up a building designed for 1,600 over the next week, it's not likely to get any less hectic any time soon. That being said, the honeymoon is still going strong in my classroom, even as I eschewed established norms and actually began teaching right on the first day.

I didn't do any icebreakers or team-building activity for 3 reasons:

1. My students already had to be subjected to that from almost every other teacher.
2. Most of the activities you can find online, even the ones that claim to be designed for high school students, are clearly designed for lower grades (or make the correct assumption that freshmen are scared out of their minds and will do whatever you tell them on the first day). A good sample can be found in "Fun Activities Get the School Year Off to a Good Start!" on Education World.
3. I don't like them.

I spent a lot of time talking, to the point that my throat was ripped to shreds by the end of the day. I talked about all the important stuff from my first day materials. I read quotes from end-of-year surveys from last year, where my students answered the question: "If you knew someone in the 8th grade who was going to be in this class next year, what would you tell them?" The responses were insightful and inspirational--at least to me, anyway. I felt that anything I could try to tell them about myself would be better received coming from students instead.

I am one of those teachers that has a seating chart on the first day (desks are numbered and a numbered list was on the overhead), not because I care about that sort of thing, but because I desperately want to learn their names and I've found no better way. I had fun with it--I seated them reverse-alphabetically from front to back. The seating chart is of course also great for setting the tone--they walked in, found their assigned seat and had work to do immediately (the student survey).

I gave a whirlwind tour of my highly organized room, a space designed to both keep me sane and reinforce the mostly-business tone I was trying to establish:

• I use those interlocking wire storage cubes to hold their notebooks, and have numerous crates of hanging files for various reasons.
• There's a word wall, an elementary school strategy that our high school has adopted, thus forcing me to be very creative in coming up with effective uses.
  
• The whiteboard is sectioned off with painter's tape demarcating my "Kickoff" (commonly known as the "Do Now" in TFA vernacular), agenda, TEKS objectives, and homework (usually blank space).
• Weekly grades are posted on a bulletin board by ID number and rank, as well as extra credit opportunities for the six week grading period, to encourage them to take responsibility for their academics
• Students of the Week (click for qualifications) are also posted, one for each class period. The only reward usually associated with it is the satisfaction of a job well done, and the occasional dropping of the lowest grade.
• And, of course, our fledgling classroom library (books, magazines and newspapers), there for students to enjoy (when they're done with their work).
  

Afterwards, I told them they were going to do the one thing they didn't expect on the first day of school: they were going to learn something. Moreover, they were going to learn something they could use in real life and astound their friends and family with their amazing mathematical ability.

I presented a mini-lesson on calculating a restaurant tip in their heads:

1. Start with a discussion of why its customary to tip waitstaff (typically they make their living off of tips, because they're often paid well below minimum wage), and what's considered a normal tip (15%) and a good tip (20% or above).
2. Let's say we have a $25.00 bill, and we want to leave a 20% tip. Instead of pulling out a cellphone to use its calculator, we break the problem into a simpler step first: what's 10% of $25.00?
3. Ask them if they know what 10% looks like as a decimal (0.1), and what happens when you multiply anything by 0.1. This is the central trick; the number doesn't really change. The decimal moves one place to the left, so $25.00 becomes $2.50.
   
4. Now we know 10% is $2.50. Ask, "What do we have to do to the $2.50 to make it into 20%?" They might say, "Double it!" Make sure to ask why, so they're forced to explain that since 10 is half of 20, they have to add another 10% or $2.50 (or another similar explanation).
5. Make sure to have them total the bill with tip ($30).
6. Repeat step 4, but for a 15% tip instead. Ask them what has to be done to get that extra 5% (finding half of $2.50), and what the new total would be ($25.00 + $2.50 + $1.25 = $28.75).

I joked that they could tell whoever was going to pay to let them figure the tip and then have them check it on the cellphone calculator. For certain periods I extended this lesson into how to estimate how much money you could save on a sale, referring to back-to-school sales as a current real-world connection. I did an example of a $125.00 item that was 60% or 25% off, and we used the 10% trick to estimate it quickly and easily.

I enjoyed actually teaching something, and I think the mere gesture sent a clear message about how badly I want them to learn. If I accomplished all I hope I did on that first day, year 5 should be simply glorious.